A Card In Hand

Chapter 9: The Curse

“Disgusting!”

Prince Jinxi, with a hint of disgust, waved away the damp, musty air that surged out from the newly opened cave in the cliff.

Facing the dark cavern, despite his formidable combat prowess, Prince Jinxi did not let his guard down and rashly enter.

The iron golem was too large to bring along, so he transformed it into a card.

Then, nimbly, he drew a purple card from his pouch.

Summoning a new battle beast.

With a flash of light.

Flames roared skyward with a boom.

A flaming gold lion, its mane entirely composed of blazing flames, was instantly summoned.

Upon its appearance, it opened its mouth and let out a deafening roar of the lion king.

The terrifying lion king’s shockwave swept across the land, lifting the ground in a violent whirlwind for dozens of meters around.

Plants bent and lay flat, and weaker demonic beasts were instantly killed.

Even bronze-level demonic beasts scattered and fled.

In a pitiable state.

“Don’t be angry, Fire King. I’ll keep you with me from now on,” Prince Jinxi said, gently soothing the flaming gold lion that had just been summoned from the beast space.

With his touch, the fierce flames around the lion’s neck gradually calmed, transforming into a fiery mane that danced in the wind.

The flaming gold lion was Prince Jinxi’s signature battle beast.

Ever since his awakening at the age of six.

It had been contracted to him.

For ten years, it had accompanied Prince Jinxi’s growth.

“My precious Xiguang, Youhuo isn’t here, and there might be anomalies inside the cave. The enemies inside are yours to deal with!”

Prince Jinxi reached toward the sky, and a flash of gold sparkled high in the clouds, moving as fast as lightning.

A light-feathered golden eagle, with a wingspan over two meters, flew out from within, circling the sky twice before landing gracefully on the outstretched hand of Prince Jinxi.

Each feather on the light-feathered golden eagle seemed to be woven from golden light.

Breathtakingly beautiful.

To welcome its arrival,

Prince Jinxi quickly took out two crystal cores, first placing one in its mouth and then tossing the other to the flaming gold lion.

The light-feathered golden eagle leaned in affectionately and rubbed against Prince Jinxi.

Its wings spread, and a translucent light eagle, formed from light energy, soared from its head into the sky, diving into the cave… In an instant, the dark cavern was as bright as day, every detail visible.

“Let’s go!”

With the protection of the flaming gold lion and the light-feathered golden eagle, Prince Jinxi finally felt at ease.

An hour later.

In the quiet cave where Li Ao lay in ambush, there was suddenly some movement.

A large-eared shadow bat flew through the dark passage, moving silently under the cover of shadows.

It flapped its wings and circled the cave three times.

Letting out a sharp cry.

Ultrasonic waves spread.

The entire cave was scanned by the ripples of the ultrasonic waves.

Eventually, the large-eared shadow bat found nothing suspicious and quietly flew back into the dark passage.

A few minutes later, a hunting hound with an extremely sensitive nose appeared.

It trotted along.

Sniffing suspicious scents on the ground.

Occasionally, it lifted its leg to mark the cave walls with a bit of urine.

The strong scent of dragonflies and the chaotic remnants of a source energy storm made it sneeze repeatedly.

The hunting hound sniffed around the cave for a long time.

To no avail.

Li Ao, an old demon who had lived nearly two thousand years in the Celestial Realm, would not lose to a novice like Prince Jinxi in details—if so, he would have died a million times over by now!

The cave was confirmed to be safe.

The Flaming Gold Lion, with flames soaring from its neck, was the first to appear.

Following closely was Prince Jinxi, with a Light-Feathered Golden Eagle perched on his shoulder, walking briskly and with a cheerful expression.

“Mr. Youhuo? Mr. Youhuo?”

Prince Jinxi approached the opening in the rock wall and called out twice, as previously agreed, but unfortunately, there was still no response.

Relying on oneself is better than relying on others.

Without Youhuo as his guide and protector, Prince Jinxi did not believe any mishaps would befall him.

He speculated whether Youhuo’s ‘disappearance’ this time might be a minor ‘test’, a surprise crafted secretly by his father and teacher to assess his adaptability. If so, then he would perform well!

Prince Jinxi imagined that enemies might attack him.

Raising his hand, he drew a purple card from his pouch.

In a burst of bright light, a ten-meter-tall steel golem was summoned from the mechanical realm.

Its arrival granted Prince Jinxi the powers of steel skin and golem strength, significantly enhancing his defense and offensive capabilities.

The steel golem raised its fists.

And slammed the ground fiercely.

The cave floor instantly burst open, sending stone chips flying and a terrifying shockwave that shook the entire cave.

“No traps or mechanisms,” Prince Jinxi noted after finding nothing amiss.

He thought for a moment and then summoned another peculiar-looking battle beast.

A giant eyeball, several times larger than a human head, appeared before Prince Jinxi.

It was extremely ugly.

Around the giant eyeball, several tentacles were coiled, creating a special buoyancy that allowed the eyeball to float in mid-air.

This battle beast, called the ‘Purple-Tentacled Evil Eye,’ did not possess high combat strength.

However, its summoning provided Prince Jinxi with a 360-degree panoramic view, and through the Evil Eye’s ability to see through invisibility, it could detect invisible enemies within a hundred meters if there were no obstructions.

“Still no abnormalities?”

Prince Jinxi shared the vision of the Purple-Tentacled Evil Eye and took another look around.

The cave was empty, with not a single anomaly.

Could Father and Teacher really not have set any challenges?

Was he being paranoid?

Prince Jinxi shook his head, as most of his previous concerns faded away.

He took out the Secret Key, slowly infused it with Source Energy, and the ruby on the Secret Key emitted a strange glow that grew brighter.

Simultaneously, the concealed Mysterious Formation, driven by the Source Energy, revealed itself—a shining six-pointed star formation located deep within the cave.

Prince Jinxi felt a weight lift from his heart; there were no trials after all, it had been his own scare!

Following the method taught by his teacher.

Prince Jinxi gently placed the Secret Key in the central position of the six-pointed star formation.

In an instant, the light flared up.

The Source Energy of the six-pointed star formation surged like a tidal wave.

In the void, the disguise was lifted, revealing the true Curse of the Cursed Spider Formation.

It did not wait for Prince Jinxi’s reaction, transforming into three strands of black cursing power that crazily fused into his body, the owner of the Secret Key.

Even now, Prince Jinxi did not realize he was cursed.

He was somewhat astonished.

Was this the real test from his father and teacher?

Or was this, besides the Dragonfly Split Wind Spear, an additional reward?

Unlike his slowness, the Light-Feathered Golden Eagle screeched, its wings bursting into thousands of rays of light, attempting to block the cursing power from entering Prince Jinxi’s body.

Unfortunately, its reaction was still too slow.

Moreover, Li Ao’s theft of the God of Curses’ Curse of the Cursed Spider Formation could not possibly be resisted.

Small, lifelike spider shadows emerged on Prince Jinxi’s forehead and palms, looking vivid.

“What happened?”

Prince Jinxi felt his body instantly enter a very strange state, as if his senses had expanded a hundredfold; even a light breeze felt painfully sharp on his skin.

He was supposed to be invulnerable with his steel skin!

How could it be so fragile?

Wait.

This sensation…

What made Prince Jinxi even more fearful was that he suddenly developed an uncontrollable thirst for blood…

“Ga ga!”

The Purple-Tentacled Evil Eye screeched hoarsely, its mouth at the base of its eyeball frantically signaling a warning.

Through the shared vision with it, Prince Jinxi saw a figure cloaked in a silver cape wielding a giant halberd, appearing before the Purple-Tentacled Evil Eye.

The next moment.

Was the giant halberd slashing down.